Coldstream Capital Management Inc. Acquires 744 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 4.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,991 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 744 shares during the quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $2,795,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DGX. Avestar Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 6,288 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $976,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 4,697 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $643,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,948 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $613,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $246,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 2,572 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $399,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $158.46 on Wednesday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $123.04 and a 12-month high of $165.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $156.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $150.11. The stock has a market cap of $17.69 billion, a PE ratio of 21.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com cut Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $167.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $2,889,207.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. This trade represents a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Profile

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated provides diagnostic testing and services in the United States and internationally. The company develops and delivers diagnostic information services, such as routine, non-routine and advanced clinical testing, anatomic pathology testing, and other diagnostic information services.